Manhattan Grill Steakhouse, West India Quay

Name: Manhattan Grill West India Quay

Where: The ground floor of the Marriott Hotel, West India Quay, 22 Hertsmere Road, London E14 4ED, http://manhattangrill.co.uk/

Cost: Average spend is around £50 per person (not including drinks). There are 6 appetisers, priced from £6.50 to £15. Steaks are £24 to £34, with non-steak main courses costing £8 to £15, and side dishes at £4-8.   

About: The Manhattan Grill is a steakhouse in Canary Wharf, specializing in wet-aged USDA prime Black Angus from Creekstone Kansas, and dry-aged Scottish cuts from Inverurie – the birthplace of Aberdeen Angus steak.

Situated on the ground floor of the Marriot Hotel, right next door to the station, it overlooks the waterfront of West India Quay. The Manhattan Grill is an elegant restaurant, if a tad corporate in feel.

The dining room is long and spacious, with comfortable cream leather chairs, and an impressive open-plan kitchen.  There are floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the quay, and if the weather is fine, there are outdoor tables too.

What We Ate: We started with the seared black pearl scallops (£15). With a delectable pea puree and bacon grilled until crisp, the scallops were meaty, of great quality and well cooked.

Equally good was the baked blue swimmer crab cake, presented with soft flakes of fresh crab and a dressed green salad, served with a tartar sauce (£12).

For the main course, we shared two of their signature steaks: the Creekstone Kansas USDA Black Angus Rib Eye (bone in) 16oz (£34) and the Scottish Aberdeen Angus T-bone 20oz steak which was a whopper (£32.50).

Creekstone Kansas USDA Black Angus Rib Eye (bone in) 16oz at £34

The steaks were both delicious, and cooked medium rare as requested. They were evenly marbled and well-flavoured, generously encrusted in salt. The steaks were served with a selection of sauces, including horseradish, chimichurri and béarnaise. I am not one to leave food on my plate, but I must admit that in the end, we were sadly defeated by the enormity of those steaks!

Scottish Aberdeen Angus T-bone, 20oz at £32.50

The restaurant claims to feature a Montague grill that heats up to 650°C, a grill oven that is similar in concept to a Josper grill. The steaks though deliciouls could have done with a little more caramelisation in my opinion so the benefits of a Montague grill are still to be seen.

Meat comes from Russell Hume in Chelsea, who supplies to most of the Marriot group, while the USDA steaks come from Freedom Foods.

To accompany our steaks, we chose the sides of mac'n cheese (£4) and chips (£4). The mac'n cheese was cheesy and creamy, a perfect example of a long-time favourite. The chips were deliciously chunky with a crispy outer layer while fluffy and very soft inside just as I like them.

The JW Steakhouse is another American-style steakhouse located at the JW Marriott Hotel on Park Lane, London (reviewed here). JW Steakhouse serves some of the best cheesecake I have ever tried (allegedly the best cheesecake on this side of the pond), so I was sad not to see it as a dessert option on the menu at Manhattan Grill. I had no space left at this stage of the meal, but I could have been tempted by that cheesecake!

What We Drank: We started with a couple of cocktails from the G & Tea bar next door (they are all priced at £10.50) - the Londinium 75 (with Hayman's sloe and dry, lime, champagne and passion fruit syrup), and the Red Spy (with Hayman's Royal Dock, Southern Comfort, peach and raspberry puree, lime juice), both well made and strong.

The restaurant has an Enomatic machine, and diners are invited to sample wines between their starters and steak, to decide which wine to pair with their meat choices.

For the rib eye, the restaurant's recommendation is a Chateau des Laurets 2011, from Puisseguin Saint-Emillion. The restaurant has a special relationship with the Rothschild family, and claims to have the largest variety of Rothschild wines in Canary Wharf.

We were offered 4 tasting samples of powerful wines, but opted for the Chateau des Laurets (£62) - a classic Bordeaux. This was excellent  - still youthful and slightly purple in colour, it had plenty of black berry fruit, well-integrated oak and firm but supple tannins. It was a pleasure to drink by itself, but better still with the steak.

Likes: The restaurant has a small menu, but what they serve (judging from our visit) was of great quality and expertly cooked. The sommelier-led wine tasting with the restaurant's Enomatic machine is a good option I have not seen in any other London restaurant. I enjoyed sitting by the open-plan kitchen and watching the chefs preparing the steaks. The mac'n cheese was creamy, with a crispy cheese top, and well made. The service was efficient, friendly and well-informed.

Dislikes: The restaurant has a slightly corporate, hotel-chain feel to it.  Annoyingly, there is no free car-parking available at the hotel or in the surrounding area even at night, although there is a multi-story car-park available over the road for a fee (£4.60 for 2 hours or £6.20 for up to 4 hours), but you can ask for a small discount at the hotel reception before you leave.  

Verdict: Manhattan Grill is a local American steakhouse serving top quality beef and well-made seafood dishes. The menu is focused, well executed and priced. It is a good option for lunch or dinner if you find yourself in London's Canary Wharf. Recommended.

JW Steakhouse Revisited (And It is Still a Treat)!

Name: JW Steakhouse

Where: The Grosvenor House Hotel, 86 Park Lane, London W1K 7TN

Cost: An average of £75 per person plus service. From the standard dinner menu, starters range from £8 to £27, main courses from £16 to £44 (for the Tomahawk rib eye steak), and desserts from £7 to £14 (for the fabulous cheesecake).

About: Having visited JW Steakhouse in October 2013 (reviewed here) and thoroughly enjoyed my meal there, I looked forward to returning a couple of weeks ago to try their new seasonal menu.

JW Steakhouse opened in 2010 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair's Park Lane, and is one of the few restaurants of its kind in London featuring grain-fed American USDA certified beef from Creekstone, as well as grass-fed Aberdeen Angus from Macken Brothers of Chiswick.

The menu, not surprisingly, is focussed on steak. The restaurant is situated on the ground floor of the hotel, which opened in 1929, and after extensive renovation was opened as a JW Marriott hotel in 2008.

Despite its fancy location on Park Lane, the restaurant has a rather casual and laid-back feel about it akin to an American Steakhouse. It is frequented by hotel guests and Londoners alike and on the night we were there, the place was full.

The restaurant has one of those super-duper Montague Legend Radiant Grills that sears meat at 650°C, giving a perfect and even seal and juicy steaks with fantastic flavour.

What We Ate: I rarely mention a restaurant’s bread basket in my restaurant reviews but I could not let the JW Steakhouse’s Parker House Rolls go unreported. These feather-light, buttery rolls with a crispy shell and crusted with sea-salt were utterly delicious. They date back to the 1870s when they were invented at the Parker House Hotel in Boston, where they are still being served.

Knowing that we would be having a very meaty dinner, we opted for the Seafood Platter for 2 (£28) to get things going. With a selection of rock oysters, jumbo shrimp and lump crab, this was a delicious and refreshing starter, accompanied by a delicately sweet Mary Rose sauce made from tomato chutney and mayonnaise.

For the main course, we decided to compare grain-fed American versus grass-fed British beef. We chose the American USDA Porterhouse Steak (£59 for 800g – a serving for 2) that came with a very well-made Béarnaise sauce. The steak was excellent, thick but tender, well-marbled and richly flavoured, the meat was cooked rare just as requested. This was a fantastic steak.

We ordered the British Rib-eye (£32 for 400g) with an optional topping of Oscar lump crab, asparagus and Béarnaise (£8 extra). This was again very good and beautifully cooked, but in my opinion, it lacked the richness and intense savoury qualities of its American cousin. We would have been completely happy with the British Rib-eye had we not just tried the USDA Porterhouse though.

The magnificent lobster mac ‘n cheese which we had at our last meal at JW Steakhouse (and probably one of the reasons for our return visit) was unfortunately not available on the night. Instead, we shared a Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese (£6). The texture was just right - neither watery, nor too dry, and with plenty of nutmeg.  The only pity was that, for my palate, the cheese used to make the sauce could have been a bit more robust.

We also had the Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese and Crispy Bacon (£9). This was delicious, with salty blue cheese & bacon contrasting so well with the refreshing lettuce.

With our steaks, chips were just too tempting to miss. So we ordered a portion of Fries with Truffled Salt (£5). These were excellent and crispy although the flavour of truffle was not totally obvious to me.

For dessert, there was no doubt in our minds but to go for the restaurant’s signature Cheesecake (£14). Described in their menu as “the best cheesecake this side of the pond”, this is indeed no exaggeration. This heavenly creation is a must-have I remembered from my previous visit. It is magnificently creamy and rich, but also light due to the use of soured cream that gives it a refreshing acidity. The cheesecake is for 2 people although it is far too much to eat in one sitting. The staff are well used to that and have specially designed carriers for diners to take the cheesecake home safely to enjoy for breakfast.

What We Drank: We shared a bottle of Paul Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage Les Jalets 2010 (£38).  This was a very good match for the beef, with powerful blackberry fruit flavours and plenty of tannin. Given that it is available from The Wine Society for £15, a mark-up of only just over 2 fold for a Park Lane hotel seemed very good value. The entry-level red wine is £34.

Likes: Excellent quality USDA and British beef, expertly cooked. The most delicious cheesecake I can remember. Great wine selection, with a very reasonable mark-up.

Dislikes: Having a TV constantly showing sporting fixtures was the only downer. Prices are on the steep side.

Verdict: Top notch steaks, a fantastic wine selection and excellent service make JWS one of the best steakhouses in London. A perfect meal for me here would be their USDA Porterhouse steak, the lobster mac 'n cheese, followed by the signature cheesecake - all unmissable. Very highly recommended.